Search the Community

I've talked about my sons a lot, but I've never shown any pictures of them or their vivariums...so I might as well now. c: Recently I got some really nice pictures of one of the geckos, the Eurydactylodes agricolae, and some alright pictures of what will be his vivarium and the other Eurydactylodes (vieillardi). It still needs a couple more weeks to establish now that the cleaner crew and new plants (a few really neat ferns from Glass Box Tropicals), but he'll be moved in soon enough. And the second viv is catching up, too. Just a little behind in construction, but the plants are growing nicely under the LEDs so it won't take as long to establish, I hope. Here are some pictures: First is the current vivarium. It's a 12x12x18 zoo med, with a hand-made hardscape. It's grown quite a bit, but the epiphytic ferns are new, and not established yet. I'm also figuring out where they're happiest and I've already moved one of them to a more shaded area to help it out. If I notice the ones in the light start wilting, I'll do the same and move them. I'm learning though. Really happy to say all the other plants kicked off really well from the start. The one syngonium has been a little crispy from the start, and some leaves died off, but all the new growth is glossy, thick, and healthy so I think it'll do fine. The hardscape itself is something I'm very proud of. I made it with silicone, great stuff, cork bark, and a coco coir/husk/peat texture mix. The vines are handmade of sisal rope and jute twine, then siliconed and textured with a modified background texture mix with a higher ratio of coco coir. This is my very first vivarium but it is the product of 5 years devotedly researching reptiles and vivariums, and a solid 1.5 years budgeting, saving money, and refining my Eurydactylodes and vivarium plans. It was worth it. There's still a lot I wish I did differently, but it was a great learning experience and I'm really proud of it for what it is. c: (Lighting is so bad, my phone really hates the lights so I tried my best. It's lit by a Current Satellite LED Plus with the full spectrum setting dimmed slightly, in conjunction with an Arcadia T5HO 5% UVB light in a Jumpstart fixture. The boys should really like the UV too, and in person it's very shaded in the lower section and offers a nice basking area too. It'll provide even more shelter as the ferns grow in, especially. And to be clear, this is vivarium ONE of TWO. They are both male and of different species and will NEVER interact with one another. The other viv is just behind so I'll only focus on this one for now.) And here are some plant close ups. All pictures are fresh and taken tonight. I'm so sorry my pictures are so bad, I just have my crumby phone camera so they aren't the best... Lemmaphyllum microphyllum 'Shishi' Microgramma piloselloides (Also featuring my custom made food/water ledge! You can barely see it from the front but I purposefully made it very practical and well-hidden too. The Eurydactylodes are New Caledonians so they will have a shallow water dish and pangea in the other) Pyrrosia nummularifolia (Will be moved to my future Sphaerodactylus notatus 8x8x12 vivarium. Old picture, recently moved to a different area of the viv, and will likely be moved into a much more shaded area tomorrow, as it isn't doing too well in the light. It's alright, but definitely a little faded. Live and learn, though. c:) Ficus pumila 'Quercifolia' Syngonium 'Mini Pixie' (Possibly one of my favorite minis! HIGHLY recommend for smaller vivariums. It's a little crunchy right now but you can definitely see the new leaves [second picture] are looking nicer) Davallia tyermanii 'White Rabbit's Foot' (Second picture, see the little whitish-green rhizomes? They've definitely grown out since it was first planted. Hopefully it'll really creep around as it matures. And yes it's planted in a cork hollow. I feel silly that it's barely noticeable, but I thought it'd be neat and more natural than a net pot or just mounted epiphytically) Syngonium 'Pixie' (Supposedly stays at 6" tall or so? We'll see. I hope it does, as normal syngoniums can get 6 FEET when mature! The 'Mini Pixie' will stay and fill out to a nice 3" around or so though. In person this one is much paler green tand a lot waxier than the other syngonium) Ficus sp. 'Panama' (One of my all time favorites, I love this plant so much. It's a moderately fast grower, not too fast at all, but it's definitely thriving and spreading around and climbing the background. It's like a little secret back there, a little diamond in the rough. You can barely see it from the front, but as it grows it'll hopefully cover a lot of the background and ground.) Next I'll post some pictures of the lads and my other plants. Sorry this is so long though, but I hope it's worth it!! And I think these are all the plants I'll have in this vivarium, and the second viv will have the same species and maybe a few unique, new ones to set it apart. I'm keeping them similar to make it look more unified, as they'll be sitting on a stand side-by-side with the vines organized so they have a more fluid, continuous appearance. If I can pull it off that is!